Essays

1093 results
Page 93

Behind the Bicentennial: A memoir (Part 1)

Selling Philadelphia, 1976: Behind the Bicentennial

Washington wanted to cross the Delaware. Max Bialystock wanted to climb back on top of Broadway. In the early '70s an unwieldy committee of Philadelphia's usual suspects faced a more daunting challenge: winning approval from the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions for a Grade 1 international exposition.

Franklin Roberts

Essays 5 minute read
The official program: Smiley, positive and loving.

In Woodstock's wake: a 1970 memoir

Post-Woodstock memories: A drag with my daughter, 1970

A year after Woodstock, I took my 12-year-old daughter to “Michigan's Woodstock”— the ultimate generation-gap test for a young assistant professor trying very hard to be “with it.”

John L. Erlich

Essays 2 minute read

A shipboard casino for Philadelphia

The lady or the casinos? Why not choose both?

Is casino gambling in Philadelphia an either-or proposition? Not necessarily, if in the process a dazzling ocean liner can be rescued from the scrap heap. All it takes is a little imagination— and less money than the developers plan to spend on their ugly black-box facilities.
Merilyn Jackson

Merilyn Jackson

Essays 4 minute read

Death and the boxer

A predictable requiem: Why boxers risk death

Three more boxers died in July. To be sure, death does occur in a sport of avoiding and taking hard punches. But boxing can also be a sport of purity and beauty, and boxers are willing to take the ultimate risks to approach those levels.
Bob Ingram

Bob Ingram

Essays 8 minute read
How on Earth could I emulate Hemingway?

Becoming a writer, c. 1964 (Part 4)

Becoming a writer, c. 1964 (Part 4): The devil (i.e., law school) beckons

Unlucky in love, I relished my emerging hoodlum persona. Trouble is, I wasn't writing. And my relatives (and the draft) were pressuring me to go to law school. Was I master of my fate, or its victim?
Bob Levin

Bob Levin

Essays 6 minute read

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A writer and her audience

What makes a good book?

Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone could be a writer. The problem, says recent author Reed Stevens, is that most would-be writers don't understand that writing is a two-way process.

Reed Stevens

Essays 4 minute read
He made a difference, yes— but what was it?

"Napoléon' at the National Constitution Center

The emperor rides again

Was NapoleÓ³n a great figure of history, a power-hungry tyrant, or just a model of pointless hyperactivity? The National Constitution Center facilitates the debate with some 300 artifacts, skillfully woven together to trace the rise and fall of an enigmatic figure whose contradictory qualities continue to both inspire and repulse us.
Dan Rottenberg

Dan Rottenberg

Essays 6 minute read
No millionaires, no free throws, few arguments.

Basketball: The real thing

Life lessons on a basketball court

These guys playing pickup basketball are no professionals. Why, then, do I find them so much more fun to watch?

John L. Erlich

Essays 1 minute read

How I became a writer, c. 1962 (Part 3)

Becoming a writer, c. 1962: A new world opens up

At Brandeis I was not very good with girls. And my grades as a politics major seemed likely to jeopardize my chances for law school. I seemed to lack the self-confidence to succeed at anything. But then I took a couple of risks and things started to fall into place.
Bob Levin

Bob Levin

Essays 9 minute read
Nicks: An unlikely outlet for repressed emotions.

Gay men and their diva role models

The diva connection: Why gay men revere iconic women

Many gay men lack male role models as they grow up, so they often turn to women for the pluck to survive in a hostile world. In My Diva, 65 exceptional gay men write paeans to the exceptional women who inspired them to forge ahead. Unlike much gay literature, this anthology should appeal to anyone (gay or straight) whose dreams have been squelched for fear of parental or communal condemnation.

Marge Murray

Essays 4 minute read